Broken Silence

by Jade Buchanan

  Should be interesting to find out which way it went.

  ***

  Matthew knew it was mean, but he couldn't stop the grin at the look on Rich's face. His poor jock looked a little overwhelmed at the sight of Matthew's friends. Heck, this was kind of subdued for them, so he was sure it was going to be even worse once they actually got to Vegas.

  They all managed to find a seat at their gate and he ended up in a debate with Andrew about which shows they were going to see. Rich didn't add much to the conversation, but considering the two of them had already talked about this, Matthew figured Rich was serious when he said he didn't care what they saw.

  As long as they got to watch one of the circus acts Matthew would be happy. He just wasn't sure Rich was up to seeing some of the more risqué ones. He couldn't figure out how to say that to Andrew in front of his boyfriend, though. His boyfriend. Matthew was nearly giddy at the thought.

  They also showed no signs of coming out to anyone, but he'd take what he could get for now. His own coming out experience had been extremely anti-climactic, but he knew enough about the world to realize not everyone had the same kind of experience that he had. He wasn't here to force anyone to come out of the closet, and he was willing to wait for as long as it took Rich to feel comfortable enough to do it himself.

  Despite what Andrew kept saying to him, it really didn't bother Matthew that much. He wanted Rich to come to the decision himself, and if he pushed him in any way it wouldn't end happily. It wasn't Matthew's decision, after all. It was Rich's.

  Anyway, Matthew was dearly looking forward to this long weekend. An entire week free to touch Rich in public. To be able to hold his hand, to kiss him and hopefully, along with his friends, show Rich that there was nothing wrong with being gay. He hoped Rich would take enough pleasure from this extended weekend to want to experience more of it.

  At least, that was Matthew's underlying goal. His immediate goal was just to have fun and spend time with Rich.

  He was so glad that Rich had decided to come with them, and even more glad that his friends had been okay with it. He was still nervous that they might not get along, but Amanda was great at smoothing things over, and Nathan had such a calming personality that whatever Andrew ended up doing should be counteracted by the rest of them. Even after all this time, Tina normally didn't say anything around them, so he didn't expect any help from her. She did her own thing and was really only interested in Amanda. It was really too bad she didn't like sports. He figured she might be able to talk to Rich about that, at least. The rest of them were hopeless. Matthew was able to talk hockey, but Andrew and Nathan not so much.

  Not that he was nervous about his friends possibly not getting along with his boyfriend. No, not at all. He was nearly ready to tie himself up in knots, or tear himself apart.

  Geez, he wondered if Rich had had this feeling when Matthew had started hanging out with him and his friends. Who was he kidding? It probably hadn't even entered his mind that there might be problems.

  With his neuroses firmly in control, he boarded the plane beside Rich and managed to find their seats. He put a comforting hand on Rich's arm when they got their bags put away.

  “Looking forward to this?”

  “The plane ride, no. Vegas, yes.”

  Right, Matthew had nearly forgotten this was Rich's first trip on a plane. It boggled his mind, but it wasn't that surprising when he realized Rich hadn't been anywhere outside of Canada.

  “Well, if you're good I might have a surprise or two packed away in my suitcase.”

  “Yeah?” Rich turned in his seat to face Matthew. “Like what?”

  “Let's just say that you're going to get some one-on-one patient care this weekend.” He grinned at the lusty look Rich was now sporting.

  “Fucking A.”

  “Oh, yes. I think you're going to like it.”

  He managed to distract Rich enough that take-off was a breeze. Unfortunately, he'd also managed to get them both hot and bothered and he wasn't adventurous enough to join the Mile High club so he stopped while he was ahead. Rich dozed off eventually, and Matthew leaned across the aisle to gossip with Nathan for a while.

  Quicker than he realized, the pilot finally came back on to announce they were landing. Matthew nudged Rich awake so they could look out the window and stare at the Strip.

  “Wow, look how big it is,” Rich said in awe.

  “You know, I think I said the same thing the first time I saw you...”

  Rich snickered. “Perv.”

  “Oi! Pot, kettle.”

  “Whatever.”

  The only saving grace once they’d arrived was that they’d already gone through customs preclearance in Toronto, so they didn’t have to do anything but get off the plane in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, they had to wait forever to get their bags, and even longer to finally get their rental van, and even longer than that for Nathan and Andrew to fight over the driver's seat and the GPS, but they were finally on their way, and soon they were pulling into their home away from home for the next few days.

  Matthew practically bounced in his seat, causing Rich to shake his head and grin. Whatever, he didn't care what Rich said about this. They were going to have fun even if it killed them.

  Reservations confirmed, Amanda and Tina made their way to their unit, and the four boys entered the unit next door. He loved the look of this place. Usually when he came to Vegas he stayed somewhere on the Strip but this was going to be fun.

  The entire condo complex was a large grouping of brown stucco buildings with a number of pools and hot tubs. He'd read there was a restaurant grill, too, but he wasn't planning on eating there. No, their first stop once they unpacked everything would be a grocery store so they could get stuff for breakfast and lunch. Andrew and Matthew had already tentatively planned out their trip, so he knew they were heading to the outlet stores tomorrow.

  Tonight was meant for relaxing, and getting themselves settled. Tomorrow night, if they weren't all completely exhausted, they were going to head to the Strip and do some reconnaissance. Check out the sights, so to speak. After that it was Strip, shows and staring at men. In no particular order, but he had no intention of taking Rich to some of the places that had been mentioned, no matter what Nathan and Andrew said. He didn't think Rich would ever forgive him for that.

  He entered the room behind the rest of them and laughed at the sight of Nathan immediately throwing himself on the couch and taking off his stilettos.

  “No pain, no gain, sweetie,” Matthew snickered as he studied the room. It was pretty basic, your average sofa and chair in front of the large TV. To the right was a small dining area and the kitchen. Andrew was clucking his tongue at the brown and taupe decor, but it didn't bother Matthew too much.

  “We were supposed to get one of the new units. I cannot believe this. Was it decorated in 1975? Argh! I can’t believe I’m paying for this décor.” Andrew threw his arms up in the air like the world was about to end.

  Matthew rolled his eyes and walked past them to see where Rich had gone. There was a bathroom halfway down the hall and Matthew spied a utilitarian shower unit. To the left was one bedroom with a double bed and a walk-in closet. The master bedroom was directly at the end of the hall with a large king-size bed dominating the room. A smaller closet was to the left inside the room but the right side of the master was the bathroom. There was no door separating the bedroom area from the large Jacuzzi bathtub or sink. He was grateful to see that the toilet itself was closed behind a small door, though.

  “Dibs on the master,” he yelled out.

  “No fair! I haven't even looked yet,” Andrew bitched, before hurtling himself into the room behind Matthew.

  Rich walked out of the closet to stare at them as if they were a zoo exhibit.

  “Yummy. Does he come with the room?” Andrew asked.

  “Mine,” Matthew said with a smile.

  Rich shook his head with an eye roll thrown in for good measure. “I don't ca
re where we sleep.”

  “Well, I do. So, dibs on the master,” Matthew repeated.

  “Why do you get dibs?” Andrew asked.

  “Have you checked out the spare room? It's got a larger closet.”

  “No playing?”

  “Swear.”

  “Can I use your tub?”

  “If you want to shave your legs you are going to have to ask Rich first.”

  “Fine. I can do that.”

  Andrew threw a wink toward Rich before sauntering back out of the room to see what the spare room held. Matthew managed to hold in his giggles until he closed the door behind him.

  Unable to hold himself up, Matthew collapsed on the bed. “Your face. Oh my God, you need to see your face.”

  “Shave his legs? Was that a joke?” The pure shock in Rich’s voice made Matthew giggle even more.

  “Oh my God. Your face!” Matthew guffawed.

  “Not funny, Matt.”

  “Oh, it is to me. You need to see your face.” Matthew rolled around on the bed, unable to help himself. Rich was adorable. Truly adorable.

  “You're a jerk.”

  “And you're adorable. We're going to have fun, Rich. I swear we are.”

  “Hmfph. Let's get unpacked. We've still got to do that grocery run.”

  “Aye aye, Captain.” Matthew stood up to throw his arms around Rich's neck. “Are you liking this at all?”

  “We're going to have fun, like you said. And as soon as we get back to the room, your ass is mine for laughing at me.” The words were accompanied by a hard slap to his butt.

  Matthew wanted to moan, but instead tucked his face into Rich's chest. Geez, what this man did to him. “Thank you for coming.”

  “You're welcome,” Rich said softly.

  He figured it was a moment to remember for both of them. He couldn't wait to see everything they could experience together.

  ***

  “Check that out, you can suck his nipples without even having to take his shirt off.”

  They'd only been in Vegas for a day and already Rich had a headache. They were currently walking through one of the casinos and Rich wondered if he could shake them off to get some alone time or if Matthew would kill him if he tried.

  Rich didn't even want to know what Andrew was talking about but he couldn't prevent himself from turning around to see the hairy, fat man walking toward them wearing a white mesh shirt with a pair of jeans. Sick. Great, his eyes were never going to recover. Wait, had Andrew just said he could suck that guys nipples without taking his shirt off? Man, now his brain was never going to recover.

  “Wow, I’m surrounded by fags.” Rich meant to whisper the words under his breath, but he didn't think he achieved it when he received a death glare from both Matthew and Andrew. Fucking fantastic.

  Andrew practically inserted himself into Rich's face. “Did you just use the F word?”

  He glanced at Matthew but saw no help from that quarter considering the glare he was still getting. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. It just came out.”

  “Bitch, I wear heels bigger than your dick. Do not fuck with me.”

  “There’s more than one thing disturbing about that sentence,” Rich deadpanned.

  “Listen, Hillbilly, you—”

  “Did you just call me a hillbilly?”

  “What? We all know Northern Ontario is full of hicks.”

  Matthew hissed, waving his arms at both of them. “You can’t say stuff like that! First, it’s not true, and second, it’s completely awful.”

  “Honey, I hear banjos playing every time I go further north than Gravenhurst.”

  Rich laughed. “Okay, now that’s funny.”

  Silence greeted his words. They all stared at each other until Matthew finally broke in. “Wow, it’s just too bad there’s no vaccine for stupid.”

  “You’re too dumb to smuggle drugs, Rich, but I bet you can give it a try if you stick them up your ass,” Andrew snarked.

  Rich shrugged his shoulders. This was going to be fun. “You can probably fit more in yours. You know, because you’re so flaming gay and all.”

  Matthew sighed. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously, Matthew? He’s just a beer-swilling redneck. Are you done with him, yet?”

  Rich crossed his arms and stared down Andrew. He was like a little barking dog. A dog currently wearing those damned tight jeans again. Rich didn’t know how Andrew walked in them, let alone swayed his hips the way he did. He was like a walking talking stereotype come to life. Especially with his “save a horse, ride a cowboy” tee.

  It was slightly better than the big ass necklace Nathan was wearing that looked vaguely Egyptian. He was told it matched Nathan’s rings. Whatever. How a man that had a full beard could get away with wearing heels and jewelry, he wasn’t sure.

  “Beer-swilling, I’ll cop to. And I guess I probably fit the definition of a redneck. At least I don’t dress like a fucking unicorn barfed on me,” Rich said.

  “Hey, I’ll have you know I do have a rainbow ski jacket and it kicks ass.”

  “Of course you do. That doesn’t surprise me.”

  “You're nothing but a gigantic sack of douche,” Andrew groused before turning away from him.

  Rich rolled his eyes. He watched mesh shirt guy walk closer to where they were currently standing on one of the bridges the gondolas passed under. Seriously, dude needed a new shirt.

  With a glance at Andrew, Rich called out, “Hey, dude, put a real shirt on. There are kids here. No one wants to see that.”

  Andrew started to laugh, but that didn't cover up Matthew's horrified gasp. Hairy fat dude just glared at them as he passed, but Rich didn’t care. He rolled his eyes and shared a grin with Andrew. Okay, the little guy could be fun.

  Matthew slapped Rich’s belly a few times. “I am never taking you anywhere again. I swear, the two of you are going to be the death of me.”

  “Oh, come on, Matthew, don’t be like that,” Andrew whined.

  Matthew turned his head to look over the bridge. “I’m not allowed to talk to strangers.”

  “How many times have we slept together and you’re going to say we’re strangers?”

  Rich arched a brow at that. He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of it. He thought Matthew had said they were just friends.

  “Sharing a bed when we were eight is a little different,” Matthew scoffed.

  “We were eighteen.”

  “You said you weren’t going to bring that up again. Nothing happened, and you know it. I passed out in your bed. I was drunk.”

  “Oh, honey, they all are.”

  Rich shook his head. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

  “Lumberjack, when I want your opinion, I will give it to you. Now, hush.”

  They were back to that, were they? This was going to be a long week at this rate.

  Nathan finally decided to intervene. He pulled Andrew’s shoulder and started guiding him back where they’d came from. “Let’s go play some slots. Come on, I bet I’ll win more than you can.”

  “Oh, Diva. Challenge accepted.” Andrew rubbed his hands together and started hightailing it down the hallway.

  Rich rolled his eyes but gamely followed along. They’d already lost Amanda and Tina somewhere, but since Matthew didn’t seem too concerned he wasn’t going to worry. Speaking of Matthew. “Uh, sorry about that.”

  Matthew huffed out a breath. “I don’t know why I didn’t expect it. You and Andrew together are going to kill me.”

  “I like him. He’s like a little barking dog.”

  “Please don’t tell him that.” Matthew stopped them to place both hands on Rich’s chest. “Please.”

  Rich grinned. “What are you going to give me if I keep my mouth shut?”

  “I’ve already promised you my ass. There’s nothing left.”

  Rich tilted his head. “There’s a sports bar somewhere around here, isn’t there? Come on, you can’t expect me to stick around here all night.”

/>   He definitely didn’t fit in here. All gilded edges and glittery crap everywhere. At least he understood why Nathan had made such a big deal about wearing his brocade jacket and matching heels. Shit, shoot him in the head for understanding that. If he wasn’t careful he was going to be borrowing their heels by the end of the week.

  “Give me an hour of your time, and I promise we can walk further down the Strip later,” Matthew said, patting Rich on the chest.

  “I don’t know how you can walk at all after the stupid outlets.”

  Rich could barely feel his feet and at least he’d been reasonable and sat his ass down in a chair after a half hour. Between Nathan and Andrew, they had gone into every fucking store in the outlet mall. It wouldn’t have been as bad if they had actually been quick about it, but they had to sit there and ooh and ahh over shit for twenty minutes. If he wanted a shirt, he went in and grabbed one in his size and walked out with it. They had to try it on, and then change their pants, and then get everyone’s opinions. It was like shopping with a bunch of girls. Although, they were worse than his sister, so he wasn’t sure what that said about her. He didn’t know how Matthew took it. Although, Matthew was just as bad as his friends.

  At least he’d given up on Rich after the second time of asking what he thought about something. Rich figured his “deer in the headlights” look worked for something, because Matthew had just huffed and walked back to his friends. Hell, he wouldn’t be surprised if Nathan had a few dresses in the dozen bags he’d dragged out.

  It hadn’t taken the three men long to start taking advantage of Rich’s spot. Within minutes of Rich copping a squat on the chair—conveniently set up in the middle of the outlets—he was surrounded by bags and told to keep an eye on them. Right, because everyone was just dying to steal Nathan’s new pumps. Fuck.

  Although, the kisses Matthew would give him every time he dropped a bag off were kind of worth it. Just like the kiss he bestowed on him now. Rich moaned into Matthew’s lips, not even bothering to look around to see who was watching them. He could get used to this.

  “Thank you for putting up with my friends,” Matthew said, when he pulled away.